San Antonio is like a military town. It's like literally - when I was growing up there, there were five Air Force bases, plus Fort Sam Houston. I was always sort of near the military.

My politics were really radical when I was younger, and then I moderated like everyone else does when they start having kids.

I have a low tolerance for mediocrity in music and life. I'm into pain and joy and the in-between doesn't interest me.

Sympathetic characters usually have a voice. They usually don't have any trouble being heard.

Sonnets are guys writing in English, imitating an Italian song form. It was a form definitely sung as often as it was recited.

I'm trying to make records where people don't feel cheated. Nashville has been guilty of insulting the Country Music audience for years and years.

I mainly read non-fiction, and that's probably because I have a huge amount of insecurity about my lack of education and the things I don't know.